Twist'd
by Radioactive X-Naut
Summary: A moonlit walk turns a young farmer's life upside down when she dashes in persuit of a mysterious stranger. Now she's forced to pair up with a masked fellow with a liking for pointy objects to save the world from an impending apocalypse. Genre may change.
1. The Mysterious Silhouette

Hola! This is my first Harvest Moon fanfiction. :3 I hope you get some form of enjoyment out of it… Anyways! I don't own Harvest Moon, because if I did, I wouldn't be writing this, I would be out testing games or something. So, that's it, I think.

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Prologue ↔ The Mysterious Silhouette

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It was a fairly quiet summer evening. Nobody stirred in their slumber, making the soft sound of the ocean lapping against the sand stand out all the more. Yet, as peaceful as it was, one person laid awake.

Jill, the owner of the farm, lay in bed watching her puppy sleep quietly alongside her pet pig on the floor beside her. Both of them seemed so peaceful in their slumbers… She almost envied them a bit. She closed her eyes and tried to fall asleep herself, but in vain. Maybe she shouldn't have had taken that brief nap in the late afternoon sun earlier when her farm chores were done, but it was so warm…

"_Maybe if I go for a short walk it'll clear my head..." _She thought, slipping out of bed and shuffling towards the front door. Upon opening the door, she was greeted with a surprisingly cold breeze to the face… It didn't bother her very much, however. If she could run around wearing a t-shirt and jean short shorts in the winter, she could take just about anything.

Despite the fact it was dark and a bit chilly, it was still beautiful outside. The fishing island just off of the coast of Flowerbud village was silhouetted by the ocean, reflecting the pale silver glow of a full moon hanging in the dark, star filled sky. Though it was approaching midnight, it felt as if it was still as bright as day to her once her eyes adjusted.

She had continued her moonlit walk, leaving the ocean and its sounds behind. Now passing by Cafe Calloway, she noticed what looked like Ray propped up against the sign, all the while snoring and cuddling up to his fishing rod. So THAT'S where he stays at night... After making sure that he wouldn't take out an eye with the fish hook, Jill had headed off towards the square.

Upon reaching the town square, she noticed what looked like a glowing shipment box, its faint glow reflected by the smooth limestone which was used to pave the ground. To Jill, there was a simple answer to the mysterious glowing box- the Firefly festival was fast approaching; only a mere three days, or two now, since at the time it was probably past midnight by then.

Feeling a bit tired now, she decided she'd head home and try to get some sleep... Until she saw it. A silhouette of what appeared to be a person looked at her for a second before running away. She stayed rooted to the spot for a few seconds out of shock, before hurriedly following the unknown figure. What if it was going to rob one of the villagers, or worse, kidnap someone? As a few clouds covered the moon, she had strained her eyes as she tried to follow in pursuit of the shadow, ducking behind things whenever it stopped to look back at her.

The only thing that she had really made out about this person was his (or her) eyes. Those cold, blue eyes flashed occasionally in the dim moonlight as the clouds past. When that happened, she even occasionally stopped breathing until the shadow had turned and kept running.

After a while of this wild goose chase (which admitably left Jill rather out of breath) the figure had stopped in front of a large oak door. It appeared worn out from the weather, but sturdy. The shadow must have picked the rusty lock on the door, Jill figured, as she heard the sound of metal on metal before a _Creeeeeeeeeek_ from the rusty hinges broke the silence. Before she could react, the person had slipped behind the door.

Noticing he (or she) had left it open, Jill headed towards it cautiously. She had always figured this was the horse racetrack, but even during those two days of the year it was locked. There was another _Creeeeeeeeeeek_ as she opened the door herself and walked in. It appeared to be a dead end at the time... But that hadn't explained where the person she was in pursuit of was.

Suddenly, Jill had felt a sudden pain in her rib cage, which seemed to spread through the rest of her. She gave a loud cry of pain, before she felt herself falling, the darkness of the night around her fading to white.

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Gasp! A cliffhanger! Who is this mysterious blue eyed stranger? What happened to Jill?... Anyways. I hope you've enjoyed the Prologue. :3


	2. Lies and Trickery

Thanks to Kit Quizmo, The Scarlet Sky, and Ekoaleko for reviewing! I really appreciate it!.. At least now I know Twist'd isn't a total dud. Then again, all I wrote was the prologue… Sorry all! I'll stop being a loser now.

By the way, I changed this story's rating to Teen because of mild Dannibalism and probably some more future violence. Read on…

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Act One ↔ Lies and Trickery

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Jill awoke to find herself in a dark, warm place. For some reason, she felt it stuffy and hard to breath. Instinctively raising her head, she found herself staring at a soft feather pillow. Looking past the pillow, she noticed the familiar goldenrod tinge of straw under a thin white sheet. Was she… At home?

Indeed, a stray ray of warm morning sun had fought its way through the thin glass of the window and spread itself across her bed and over the wood flooring. Her dog gave a small whine at the sun bouncing off of its closed eyelids and rolled into the pig, making it give a loud squeal of displeasure. Even the pain was gone.

"I must have been dreaming… What an odd nightmare." She remarked, rubbing her eyes and brushing a stray strand of almond colored hair that happened to fall into her face. But something wasn't right here- why was she home? She clearly remembered every aspect of her nightmare; while usually one forgets what the dream was about upon awakening.

"_...Up..." _

"Eh?..." Now, that's where it all stopped making sense. She thought she heard something. Looking out the window, she saw nobody; even if the sun was up. Usually at this time she could at least see Kurt and Joe working in the Carpenter's house. Looking through her own window and into theirs, though, she saw no sign of movement… Matter-o-factly, it looked more like it had been abandoned for years.

"_...Wake...up..."_

There! There it was again! She had DEFINITELY heard someone this time… Whoever it was told her to 'wake up'. But she was already awake. It still made no sense. Unless…..

"**WAKE UP!"**

"ZWAGH!"

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Jill felt her eyes snap open again out of pure surprise, to discover a very different scene compared to the one she was just in. This place... it seemed to be the complete opposite of reality, the backside of the coin.

The first thing to come into her view was the twilight sky plastered above her; a deep, crimson red, dotted with thousands of faint, tiny, violet specks.. It reminded her of blood… The next thing she saw was a young man with black hair and blue eyes, roughly around her age. His attire consisted of a brown vest over a sleeveless white shirt and jeans, plus multiple accessories. The most noticeable being a bright red bandana seperating his face from his hairline... Dan? What was he doing here? Was he…. Who she had been following all along that night?

"Mmm! So you're finally back, babe. I thought you'd never come back to me!" He pouted, firmly grabbing her arm. She raised an eyebrow. "Uh, Dan?... Where are we? What are you doing here?" Jill asked, completely baffled by the current situation. He said nothing, but took her hand and brought his face close to her own.

"Oh, how does THAT matter, babe? We're together, now, under a rose colored sky… I've awaited for some time alone with you for YEARS, hun! You gonna keep me pining away for you, or are we gonna get down to it?" He asked, Jill rather, no, extremely uncomfortable at this point. It was then she noticed something about him. While he was giving his odd little speech there, she had noticed his molars were unusually long… not to mention pointy, like the teeth of a canine.

…Not to mention he seemed to be close enough to bite her neck.

_Don't just sit there! He's a hu-man eater, and all your tools are back home! RUN!_ Her mind screamed at her, the rest of her reacting as she fought her way out of Dan's grasp and making a break for it. The fabric on the shoulder of her vest ended up slightly torn from the young man's teeth when she jolted up, but she wasn't bleeding.

"Mmhmhmhm! Well, if they don't buy the slow approach, you might as well be _FOREWARD_!" He cackled in an almost demonic way, bearing his fangs and chasing her on all fours. "EEEEK!" She screamed, running as fast as her legs could carry her, pigtails flying backwards from the speed she was going. Dan kept in hot pursuit, however, screaming things about how she might be better with some sort of seasoning, and weather she should be eaten raw or cooked.

Just as she thought she could run no more, she turned back to see Dan, lying on the ground with a mighty gash on his shoulder. Had he… was he…? No, he was still breathing. She stood staring at the scene for a moment, confused. She looked around, trying to find who or what had done this, but upon seeing no one, she kept running. She should at least take the chance to get away before the Dan the cannibal woke up. Little did she know, she was being watched by someone.

This someone was tossing a rock chiseled to a point, almost like an arrowhead. Up and down it tossed it, all the while shifting an icy gaze to Dan's corps, which, coincidently, had a rock of a similar style laying behind his elbow, tip coated in the young man's blood. The person then glanced at the direction Jill had gone in.

"_Be more careful. I might not be around to save you next time…"_

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After another ten minutes of running, Jill's sprint had slowed to a jog, before finally dying down into a slow paced walk. She was alone in this barren wasteland, where not even a cactus or even blade of grass could survive. Just rocks and dirt... She was thirsty, tired, and confused. Trying to think clearly to keep herself occupied, she went back to the night before.

What did the person she was tailing behind look like?... Ah, yes. Those light, light blue eyes. The ones that seemed to have lit up the night. Dan had dark blue eyes, so it obviously wasn't him. Thinking of the people she knew with light blue eyes, she came up with four possible people- Blue, Katie, Ann, and... Jamie.

Ugh. She hoped it wasn't her self-proclaimed rival. Being stuck with "No Talk" or "Short Temper" would have been better then him.. Probably because he seemed like those two combined into one scary, purple-haired, goddess-obsessed wierdie. She was good friends with Ann, however, so that would be a pleasent surprise.

Her gaze turned to the heavens as she continued thinking. What was going on in the village right now? Were people worried, or did they even know that she was missing? Did they care? On top of everything, where was she? So many questions, so little information. Of coarse, a lacking of attention to the current situation comes with a price, and she found herself tripping over a rock on the path and toppling over.

"Ow!" Jill whined, sitting up and looking at her now bruised knee. It stung, but she had to keep going. What if the weather took a turn for the worse, and it started raining, blowing sand around, or even snowing? She certainly didn't want to be caught in it. But... a part of her just wanted to sit here and rest.

She didn't want to walk anymore, getting more lost then she already was. She didn't want to run into any more dangerous people, who might try to torture or eat her. Most of all, though, she didn't want to be alone. She realized now, she was never truely alone; she always had her pets, her livestock, and even her neighbors. She was never truely alone until now...

She sighed and forced herself up again, her knuckles making a soft cracking sound at the sudden pressure put on them. Dusting herself off, she kept going, weather she liked it or not. If Dan could survive out here, she would probably run into some form of civilization sooner or later.

Yet Jill couldn't help feeling as if... Someone was watching over her, taking note of her every move. Was that someone the cause of Dan's sudden unconsciousness?... She didn't want to think now. Her dry throat ached for the unavailable moisture it needed to continue enduring this weather, which seemed to get hotter by the minute for unknown reasons.

Her legs and mind wanted more rest; sitting for five minutes couldn't make up for the sleep she now lacked. On top of that, she was starting to get hungry, her hair was laced with random particles of dirt from when she had been laying about, and she was starting to concider the likely fact that she was going insane.

To put it bluntly, she was a mess. Yet, she trekked on. She'd find somewhere safe, away from the horrors of this desert-like place, or die trying. The latter seemed more likely at the moment. She walked, walked, and walked more, until the world faded back to black.

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Meanwhile, the someone spoken of earlier, the exact someone who had saved Jill once from being Dan's dinner, was walking along the path. The wind had kicked up a sandstorm, but the cloak of white it wore kept the flying grains of rock from giving the person undesireable pain. You'd think it'd be hot wearing a cloak in this weather, yet it wasn't.

It stopped in front of an unusually shaped pile of sand and dug. It wasn't at this task for long; a pink fabric; wind battered and dusty, but pink all the same, came slowly into view. The wind tried to bury it's new treasure again, but the other person positioned itself back to the wind as it kept digging, slowly revealing the rest of Jill. Shaking it's head, the person hoisted her up and began carrying her unconscious body with it, making a grunt of strain once and a while.

"Troublesome girl."

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So, that's chapter one:3 Cliffhanger or not, short or a good length, concider it what you like.

Review if it's to your liking; i'm not sure if i'll update for a while though.. I have a few things I must do before I start the second chapter.


	3. The Wilting Goddess

Thanks again to all that reviewed! You all rock my socks. D: -shot- Oh, and I have a liking for making something pass out. Just 'cuse it's fun.

Quick disclaimer- This chapter contains mild language. Viewer discretion is advised.

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Chapter Two ↔ The Wilting Goddess

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Once again, Jill found herself in the comfortable familiarity of her own home. She sighed, at least aware of what was going on this time.

_It's that dream again… I must have collapsed._

Walking over to the wall of her house, she stared out the thin, transparent glass coating her window. However, the scene she was greeted by was drastically different in comparison to the last time she found herself back in her house. This shocked her immensely. "Wh-what happened here?!"

Past the dark skies and the ominous thick mist covering the area, she saw nothing but wrecked piles of assorted homebuilding supplies that were most likely buildings at one point. Nobody dared to walk the cobblestone paths; except she noticed tiny yellow and red lights shining through the murky darkness. Not a single plant or animal seemed to exist; the ground was barren and covered in falling trees and wilted crops.

A sudden tiny knock at the door surprised her. Someone aside from her was still alive around here! Rushing to the door, she forced it open, her face twisting in disgust at the overwhelming scent of rotting flesh that blew in from outside. Looking down, she noticed who had done the knocking- the three harvest sprites, not in the best shape ever; quite frankly, they looked like they had just been battered around like dog toys. Carlos and Billy were both clutching twigs for dear life, watching behind them as Arthur began to speak.

"Jill… Harvest Goddess… go to her…"

"Shadkas… danger… bring protection…"

"Yeah… Nyaah... So tired…"

With that, the three collapsed in a small pile, back-to-back, asleep. Jill noticed an ink-like blob a few paces the three, glowing yellow eyes illuminating the darkness. It reminded her of a shark, with the exception of the two claw tipped arm-like growths emerging from where a shark would regularly have fins.

It opened its jaw, revealing rows of menacingly sharp ivory-white teeth, and rushed at them, with intentions to kill. As fast as her reflexes would allow, Jill scooped them up and slammed the door as hard as she could in the critter's face.

Breathing hard from the effort, she set the Harvest Sprites on her bed. "That must have been a Shadka… No wonder I'd need protection… That thing looked like it was straight out of a weird horror movie…" She muttered, forgetting that this was just a dream itself. Yet for a dream, it seemed disturbingly real.

Digging around her tool box, she grasped the first thing she laid hands on- a smooth wooden handle with something of what most people would consider heavy weight on the end. Pulling the whole thing out, she noticed that she was holding her hammer, which had been upgraded with silver by the local blacksmith… Whose shop and home was in ruins at the moment, but that was beside the point.

Jill snapped out of her train of thought as a sudden sound rattled the doors and windows. Those ink-like creatures were trying to break in! The dog gave a frightened whine and fled into the corner, while the pig kept hidden in the kitchen cupboards. So, just for good measure, Jill hid the Harvest Sprites under her pillow. If they were lucky, those gruesome, inky land sharks wouldn't find them there.

After assuring they were fine, the rattling began to worsen. Gathering her courage, Jill charged at the door, her weapon gleaming in the faint light the electricity had to offer. Quite honestly, she was surprised that the power was still on… never mind. A sudden flicker and blackout of the lights put an end to that.

Just then, Jill heard the sound of something giving a _creeeeeeekkk_… There was a long, awkward silence before a loud **SMASH** had broken it. Relying on her hearing, the young farm girl charged, swinging her hammer blindly at the sound of tiny, but needle-sharp claws scuttling on her floor. Occasionally she'd hear shrieking and hear some form of noise to indicate something hitting the wall.

The stench of rotting flesh seemed to be everywhere now. Jill had fled out the door, her dog in tow, occasionally barking and biting any Shadkas that came too close. She wanted to return to help her pig and the Harvest Sprites, but if the sprites are in such bad shape, she figured the Goddess was probably no better.

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Through the magic of television, Jill and her dog had arrived at the Harvest Goddess spring… As if they had teleported there. Weird. Anyways…

Upon entering she saw it hadn't changed at all- animals still frolicked cheerfully, the foliage still a light green with mushrooms and flowers sprouting. It was probably the only place that DIDN'T smell of rotting flesh in Flower bud village. Yet something was evidently wrong here as well. For one thing, the goddess didn't seem to be here.

"Um… Hello?" Jill called, looking around. Her dog gave a small bark, also looking about, confused. Even the smallest, most domestic creature knew who the goddess was; that was just the way the world worked.

"Jill… I am here…."

Jill spun around to see… Whoa. Nobody would have suspected Harvest Moon to have Extreme Makeover as an actual reality TV show until now. Although this was more of a make-under compared to a make over… Sorry, that was cheesy. I'll stop now.

The goddess's deep violet eyes and long, flowing purple hair had faded into a dull shade of grey, both having appeared to have lost their shine long ago. Her wings were damaged to the point where they looked rickety enough to fall off, and her pale purple, flower petal like dress was now a combination of brown and grey, and filled with holes and tears near the bottom. To say in the least, Jill was once again shocked.

"G-goodness… What happened to you?" Jill stammered, the goddess giving a reply to the short question. "I've lost my powers… Something called a…. "Glitch" has entered our home land… I tried to protect the village, but it ended up being too much for even me in the end…"

"That's horrid!... Where are the other townsfolk? Are they…?"

"Some of the more elderly folk of the village are… I've managed to help some of the younger ones and their relatives, however. I've sent them to a place… a place called…. Ooh…" The goddess fell to her knees, Jill catching her. Her dog gave a nervous whine. "My strength is waning… Please, Jill… I beg of you; find your fellow villagers. Few have been corrupted to… assist the glitch in… ending the world… But… but the others… go… go find them. They… they shall….help… you……"

With that, the goddess's very form seemed to crumble into a fine powder, almost like ashes, in the girl's hands. A soft breeze blew past, blowing the dust away with the wind. "Gone… Just like that.." Jill said quietly, voice choked up as she held back tears. The scenery around her, the scene that was the pinnacle of perfection in nature's beauty, began to fade. Until there was nothing left but her and the dark woods. The faint scuffling of claws could be heard somewhere a few meters away.

Suddenly, the ground started to shake. "An…. An earthquake?" She forced out, trying to keep her balance before falling into the spring with a scream….

---

Her eyes snapped open once more, and she found herself staring face-to-face with what looked like a human being in a white cloak, hands clamped over the cloak where its ears probably were. The figure wore a mask which she guessed to be made out of clay as well-painted white with assorted reddish stripes and markings covering it. It was half cut off however, showing the cloaked being's mouth and chin. "You're finally awake… Thank goddess. You scream like a howler monkey." The person spoke, taking its hands off of its ears.

Jill was half surprised, and half flustered- For one thing, she had no idea how she got here. Upon examination of her surroundings, she realized it was a cave with a small pool of water in it, but that didn't answer why she was here. She also wanted to know who this person was, and what this place was. The person had turned back to whatever it was doing before she awoke. After an awkward moment of silence, as she clung to her silver-level hammer which was still at her side for some mysterious reason, she burst.

"How did I get here? Who are you? Where in the world are we?!"

The person looked back at her, and from under the mask, Jill could almost imagine the person raising an eyebrow at this. "Oiii… One question at a time, lady. Well, first, you're here because I found you unconscious, buried in the desert. I took pity on you and carried you here." The person spoke, Jill turning slightly red out of embarrassment before it continued. "Second, my name is A.J. Finally, we're in a cave near the end of Hooligan's Desert. Happy?"

Jill didn't reply; she was lost in thought. A.J…. If this person was truly someone from her village, and if they were the mysterious stranger (she figured it would be rude to ask) she figured that'd leave Katie out of the picture. Because everyone knows that A.J. can stand for one of three things- Ann Junkshop, Animal Jock, or Angsty Jackass. (No, if your name is A.J, I'm **NOT** taking about you.)

But she doubted Jamie would ever admit to being a Jackass. Oh well.

"Well, if the interrogation is done here, lady, I'd like to eat my dinner without any screaming… You want some soup?"

"It's Jill. Oh, and yes, please."

From that moment, she never walked alone again.

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Again, I'm not trying insult, or offend, any people named A.J… If you were offended, I'm super sorries. D:

Next chapter hopefully coming your way soon! (Sorry if some of you think I write too short of chapters; i'm not that great at really long ones... But at least this way I get to leave you all with cliff hangers and save some material to work with for coming chapters. 83)


	4. Psycoholic

Thankee to Kit Quizmo, Ekoaleko, and Frozenwinters for reviewing. You all rock. x3

I don't have much to say, except... Enjoy chapter three!

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Chapter Three ↔ Psycoholic

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"Nnm..."

She murmered, turning over in her sleep... Only to feel a sharp pain tearing at her nose and forehead. Yet it was cool at the same time... Cool and damp. Like tripping and falling face first into a puddle. Stretching both arms out to see if she still had feeling in them, she placed both hands on what she felt to be solid ground and lifted her head up.

After rubbing her eyes and letting her mind clear for what felt like an hour, she sat up and examened her situation. From what she could tell, she had fallen asleep using her hammer as her pillow, and when she rolled over... Wait. Her hammer? How come she didn't notice it before? How did it get there? Where the heck was A.J? Did she dream A.J up as well? Was she dreaming right now?

Questions had begun to flood her mind, she failed to notice a nosebleed gained from the earlier faceplanting, and she was about to start running around like a chicken with it's head cut off out of pure confusion. Yep. She was awake.

"Ah. Welcome home to reality. We've missed you."

A sarcastic tone coming from the other side of the room eliminated any further questioning, and she spun around to face A.J, who was giving her an odd stare. As his lips curled into an amused smirk, she groaned. Actually, she had learned some interesting things the other night, before she fell asleep on her hammer.

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_The two sat around a small fire which she had conjugated up with her hammer, oddly enough.. Well, she had also used a rather sharp "Snaplosion" rock, which, for some odd reason, A.J. had carried around with it. Actually, it had several. All of them were carefully crafted and sharpened to a point, like arrowheads. Actually, she had cut her finger on the rock she was using trying to make the fire, thinking it'd work like flint in some way, until A.J. instructed her otherwise. It then backed away a few feet beforehand._

_"They respond best when cracked open... Put it on the floor and give it a good whack with your hammer."_

_Jill, after giving it a quizzical look for its explanation of fire simply coming out of a rock, and the odd name it had, had done as told. Upon whacking the rock, there was a snapping sound followed by something which nearly sent her flying out into the sand outside._

_From that moment on, she'd never question the Snaplosion rock again._

_However, she did question her camping buddy there why all the rocks were sharpened if they were only for such a purpose._

_"Simple questions get simple answers. I need to defend myself too you know... Besides, I like sharp objects."_

_Well, even though A.J's preferance for the pointy was a bit odd to say in the least, she nodded anyway. She then thought of something important._

_"A.J... I have a question. A really important one."_

_"Shoot."_

_"...Are you male or female?"_

_Upon hearing this, the look on its face was simply priceless... Well, from what you could see of it, anyway. Its blue eyes were wide with confusion as if she just told it there was a plant growing out of its head, and its mouth was so wide that it seemed to stretch past its chin. Almost like a cartoon character. It stayed this way for a few minutes... She had probably givin whatever ego and pride it seemed to have a beating with those five simple words. Finally, it replied in a rather offended voice._

_"I'm a guy."_

_After that, they stayed quiet until they dropped off to sleep._

_---_

"Yes, good morning to you too. What are you so happy about?"

He chuckled in response to her question, but he quieted himself quickly. Though under the mask, he seemed to be turning pink from holding in some form of undeniable laughter "That matters not... Anyways... There's been something... I've been meaning... to ask you." He said, stumbling over his words in attempt to catch the occasional gulp of air. Ten seconds until impact...

Nine... "Yes?" Jill asked expectedly with a blink. Eight...

Seven..."Well..." Six... "I was wondering why you're..." Five... "In Hooligan's Desert..." Four... "Don't you know it's..." Three... "...Dangerous here?"

Two... "Well, I couldn't sleep one night, so I went for an evening walk through the village I lived in..." One... "I saw someone who I persumed to be a thief, so I followed whoever it was, and woke up here... Then-" Zero.

Suddenly, A.J. burst out laughing. After a few minutes of sitting upright, he toppled over and commenced to roll on the floor laughing, or, for those more Internet saavy, he was "ROFL"...ing. Maybe the stories were true. Spending too long in the Hooligan's Desert could result in the perfectly sane acting like madmen. Daresay, frolicking in the heat and seeing nothing but sand made them... insane?

Perhaps being in the desert made you addicted to your own actions to entertain yourself. Take Dan from earlier as an example. He could have just been hungry, but he enjoyed the thrill of chasing down poor Jill like a child on his birthday, ne? He who is addicted to insanity, a slave to anything remotely unpropper. A psycoholic.

Are you supposing I'm hinting that A.J. is a psycoholic? Rest assured, I'm not. He merely finds the fact that Jill's nose is bleeding, and the fact that she's failed to notice it despite the fact that some blood actually stared to drip on the floor, entertaining. You may find this disgusting, or maybe even wierd, but who can blame the guy? Being in the desert for a while lacks entertainment for the sane.

---

Getting back to the original topic, Jill was rather confused and offended by his actions towards her story, which wasn't even very funny. Actually, she found it more stressful then anything. While he was laughing, she stood up and started out of the cave and into the sand, arms crossed in a huff. She wasn't ready to tear anyone's head off or anything, but she felt she needed to get out of that cramped cave and take a walk to clear her head.. Just like that night. Only this time, for different reasons.

At least today it wasn't blowing sand or any other substance around, so she could see everything clearly. The rising and falling dunes of dusky silver sand highlighted the sky, violet clouds standing out the vast pool of bloody red. Despite the fact it looked like it was twilight outside, it was still unbelievably hot out. The whole scene made her think of her own home once more...

Well, the way she saw it before she left, anyway. White sandy beaches connecting land to sea, greenery as far as the eye could see. People chattered happily and went about thier buisness as the white clouds floated lazily over the soft blue of the sky...

Yet it already seemed so far away now.

She had remembered a time where she wished to leave home on an adventure. See different places with her friends, meet new people, and somehow save the world. When she wished for that, she was still an imaginative child. At the moment, she just wanted to return to her old life, and leave all this nonsense to rest.

Things can sure change over the years, huh?

When she had walked a good distance away from the cave, she came across a rather hefty rock, which she decided to sit and rest on. A cool breeze blew in from the east, carrying with it the smell of what she could identify as baking bread and multiple scents of fruits and flowers she was unable to identify at the time. It was actually rather tempting.

While she was contemplating weather to head into the east or maybe go back west to find the cave again, she felt a weightily object on her back, something warm grabbing and holding her wrists together. It felt like another human.. The grasp was that of living flesh, not some robot's claw out of a science fiction story. A soft, silky voice suddenly hissed in her ear, as the yearning to let out a scream lodged itself in her throat.

_"You're not escaping me this time, babe."_

---

Tears stinging at his eyes and throat aching from his outburst of laughter, A.J finally sat up again. "Hah... I'm sorry, Jill, what were you saying?" He asked absent mindedly, becoming puzzled as he heard no reply. "Jill?"

Looking at the spot she was sitting in before, she saw only the few droplets of blood that had come from her nose, and her hammer sitting there. Outside, he saw what he thought were footprints leading to the east. Picking up Jill's hammer, he followed the footprints outside of the cave out of curiosity.

After a few moments, he came across another set of footprints from the south, which had made their way into combining with what he thought were Jill's. On closer examination on one of the southern footprints, he noticed it was oddly fermilliar. He continued following the path they had created in the sand, when then, it hit him. Realizing what was following her made his mouth go dry. Grumbling slightly, he began to run, ignoring the hammer's slight weight. Nothing but a single word flashed through his head now.

_"Damn."_

---

Wahahah! I leave you with a cliffie! xD Fear it!

Sorry for not updating in a while. I'm going to school soon, so updates may come less often..

Toodles for now!


	5. Tainted Red

'Allo, to anyone who still reads this story… Sorry for the longest wait… ever…. Let's just say school is a pain in the derriere… Oh yeah! I was also taking a few applications for outside characters to be guests in this chapter for the fight, just to make it more interesting for me to write. x3 So don't be too surprised if you see some new faces for this chapter only.

**Warning/Disclaimer**- Bloodshed and great idiocy are involved in this chapter. Viewer digression is advised. Oh, and Kevin belongs to Konafox, and the Snow Princess, Frozenwinters.

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Chapter Four ↔ Tainted Red

---

"Wh-wh-wh-wh-what?"

Her captor frowned at this reply, resting his head on her shoulder and removing one hand from the clasp he had made for her out of his own to turn her head until her deep brown eyes faced his own grayish blue ones. It was evident who he was now, and Jill knew it.

Only ONE person she knew could have a look in his eyes which seemed somewhat seductive, yet with a glint of something she could only describe as a victorious look which resembled a wild animal which caught its prey.

Dan.

"Wh-what do you want with me?!" She demanded, attempting to be fearless in such a situation, obviously in vain to those around her. Unbeknownst to her, however, she was trembling uncontrollably out of pure fear. She knew two potential things this man probably planned to do with her, and she didn't particularly want to know.

But of course, she just HAD to ask him, didn't she?

Her reply was answered by a simple smirk, simply leaking with demonic intentions that could make small children cry and grown men recoil in shock. "Well, since you asked…" He started, before taking a deep breath, getting ready to continue. "Let me tell you a story, Hun. It all started a while back…"

---

"Hey kitten, what say we ditch this lame excuse for a party and go… _exploring_?"

Slap.

Another mission gone badly for Dan "The Man". Gently touching his now stinging cheek, which was probably a deep pinkish red hue by now, he glanced around. Nothing out of the ordinary, Duke was serving drinks, Hank was passed out on the floor, Ray was attempting to have a heated conversation about fish with Woody (Who honestly wasn't really listening, but was nodding and smiling and such anyway), and Blue wasn't paying attention to anyone.

But then, he saw something out of the ordinary compared to the usual guys and Eve, who had just foolishly rejected him, sitting at the table to the right of him. It appeared to be… a chick. (Score!) But for now, he had to regain his mojo by checking this new girl out.

While she had questionable taste in clothing (Ponchos are SO out of season right now…) the warm mixture of reds and purples went well with her pale skin color. By the look of the cowboy hat made of what he thought to be tanned animal hide (like his vest) he decided to be stereotypical and say she was a farmer by profession. Her hairstyle was rather unique; it was about the same length as his own in a pale violet, and as for her eyes… They had to be the brightest blue he'd ever seen. Though she looked rather bored as she sipped her drink…

She didn't seem to be noticed by the other men, but DAMN, she was attractive. Why was she sitting alone in the corner?

---

"….What does this have to do with the original subject?" Jill questioned, honestly quite baffled by this odd story he was telling. Although, no thanks to the slightly… unnecessary… description that Dan made, she knew EXACTLY who this "girl" was. If she wasn't so uncomfortable at the moment, she would have burst out laughing at the man's grave mistake.

"Didn't anyone tell you to be quiet while a story is being told? I'm getting to that." Dan pouted before continuing.

---

Now having decided he should strut over there and giving that unsuspecting chick his "A" game, Dan rose from his seat and began strutting over to the table. Blue caught his movement out of the corner of his eye. "..No…Even he wouldn't…" He murmured softly, Dan overhearing him and receiving a bit of an ego boost. Hmm, so she was a tough one to win over, eh? He liked a challenge.

"Heey, babe! Whatsay we blow this bar and make out in the barn?"

It was then this girl didn't look bored OR interested, which confused him. Instead, she now wore what seemed to be a cross between a perma-glare and great, great amounts of confusion.

"… Wow. There really ARE fruity people around here… I don't swing that way. Now take a hike, bozo."

"W-W-WHAAAAA?"

By now, everyone in the bar except Hank was in on this, and there was a large round of hearty laughter. Blue, seeing how Dan still failed to comprehend the whole situation going on here, was kind enough to explain.

"Despite how feminine Jamie here looks… He's a guy. You-"

Before the farmhand could even finish, Dan had already rushed out the door to find a way to ease his embarrassment.

---

"…and that's what happened. The end! Now you tell yours."

"….What?"

"Your most embarrassing moment! I told you mine, now you have to tell me yours. Once the ritual is complete, I shall bite down on your neck, and in a day's time, you will be my queen! Doesn't that give you shivers of delight?"

Well, in all honesty, it gave her a shiver of how disturbing the thought was, but she was more confused by this whole idiot excuse for a reason for keeping her here. Blinking, her train of thought left when she saw the impatient look on his face, presumably from her silence.

"Oh, heck with it all! I'll just bite you now, savor the taste of your blood, and you will come to agree with me all the earlier! Nobody is going to save you, you know…" He chortled, his voice sounding more maniacal with every word.

There it was again, the urge to scream for help. However, there was some unintended wisdom in his barrage of nonsense- she was too far away from the cave for A.J to hear. She bet he was still senselessly laughing it up over her story in there. Maybe if she was lucky, someone would be passing through soon and would save her from this idiot. Not likely. Struggling, she attempted to use her entire being to block Dan's now gaping jaw from reaching her, fang like teeth tinted a dim red by the twilight covering the area.

Dan gave a sudden howl of pain and his hands recoiled, making her jump with surprise. Looking about, she saw two things.. Well, more like four. Three arrowhead like rocks were poking out of Dan's flesh, and he looked over his wounds as they leaked out cold, sticky purplish green fluid with a disgusted expression. He soon looked away, ignoring them, probably figuring that they would simply clog most of the blood from coming out of the wounds.

Jill, however, decided to get some closer examination on these "arrowheads" to discover some familiarity about them. There was only one person she knew that carried around rocks of that type and bothered to crudely sharpen them to the point that they'd have a chance of digging into someone's veins.

That someone was standing about three paces away from them with her hammer slung over his shoulder.

Jill hid a small smile. So he DID come to help her after all… Dan, however, didn't seem to approve of this new development. So, in all seriousness, he yelled out the oddest bit of nonsense since his story earlier.

"**GO**, MY FOREST FRIENDS! STRIKE THIS FIEND DOWN!"

After a short moment of silence, A.J decided to break it with one simple word. It wasn't really visible, but by his tone, Jill thought she could see him raising an eyebrow from beneath his mask.

"….Huh?"

"…Aw, forget it. Get ready to RUUUUMMMMBLLLLEEEE!"

Dan came charging at the young man, A.J bracing himself to dodge and attack. But before that could occur… Two things happened.

One, what appeared to be a very muscular human being fell from the sky and made his landing on the defending team, flattening him.

"….What smells like B.O?.." Jill randomly inquired, a few moments before the second event occurred.

"Excuse me? Can I ask where the Goddess Spring is?... Whoever believes in her is a complete idiot, however. If she DID exist, she would have gotten rid of this boring desert. She's too damn LAZY of course, so she'd send out all her little elf slaves to do it for her! But she was even too lazy to do that, I see. Humph…. Oh, and wherever that dreadful stench is coming from, get rid of it. NOW."

This little speech here was given by a young looking woman clad in pale blues and white, a silver tiara donning her long purple tresses, probably proving some form of royal status. She was carrying a rather large ice cube with a frozen chicken inside. The scariest thing was however, it _blinked_. Jill recoiled slightly at the sight.

The person who landed on A.J sat up, looking about at the others. By description, he was a muscular man in about his twenties, with black hair and brown eyes. He was sporting a skintight shirt and jeans that appeared to be covered with sweat stains, making one would guess he was working out before… landing… here.

"Um… Where are my glasses?" He asked nobody in particular, digging around in the grainy silver sand for them.

"Er un mi hef. Nwo git ooffa mi." A.J muttered, voice muffled by the sand.

"What?"

This time, A.J forced his head out of it's sandy cover, sputtering. A pair of blue framed glasses tumbled off of his head and onto the man's lap from the sudden pull from gravity. "There. NOW can you get off me?"

"Oh! Sorry."

After he had done what he was told and A.J had stood up again, complaining about his cloak being covered with sweat stains itself now, Dan gave a bored yawn. "Look, can all of you get over yourselves? We were about to have an epic battle here…" He moaned, receiving a chicken block to the head.

"GET OVER YOURSELF! It's not all about you, you know, peasant. Think about others too. Like me for example. It's hot out. It's too hot. Someone start a blizzard. DO IT SOON OR I'LL FREEZE YOU ALL MYSELF! You don't want to see me when I'm doing things myself. I tend to get… frustrated that someone isn't doing it for me. SO HURRY UP, IDIOTS! I'M DYING OF HEAT! **NOW**! If someone doesn't…."

She continued shrieking her rant as the man on the ground slowly sat up and rubbed the bump on his head. By now, the chicken block was gone, but there was a large puddle on the ground and there was a loud "Ba-CAW" nearby.

"There was an epic battle? Can I help as an apology for landin' on you?" Kevin asked, glancing from A.J to Dan. A.J smirked.

"Sure! You look strong.. Rough him up, would you?

"Uh… Okay, I guess…"

So, he walked over and punched Dan, right in the kisser. Dan, rubbing his swollen upper lip, and, being upset about being caught off guard, proceeded to punch his opponent in the same place. However, he slipped in the process, and ended up slapping him instead in attempt to catch his balance.

In a matter of minutes, they were engaged in some form of girly slap fight, which made Jill giggle and A.J impatient. However, upon noticing the rocks sticking out of Dan's body, he got an "idea". Uh-ho.

"**Hiyaaaaaah**!" He screamed in volumes that would rival the still-ranting Snow Princess, running up and jumping in front of Kevin, smashing the rocks sticking out of the vampire like being in one powerful swing.

As he was landing, however, Dan happened to raise his arm as his face past by it, ripping open his cheek and following up towards his eye, cutting through the worn clay of his protective mask. He winced as a snapping noise, like you'd hear in a bowl of Rice Crispies filled the air.

We suppose you know what happens next.

---

Jill, once again, found herself laying about thirty feet away from the explosion sight, the rock still being in sight however. As she forced herself up and slowly approached, she noticed some things left. One, being a scrap of fabric from Dan's bandana and what looked like a vampire's skull, caked in soot and burns.

Dan was no more.

Nearby, she noticed a pinkish red shard of something which caught her attention. Picking it up, she examined it slowly… and allowing herself to let out an astonished gasp.

It was a hunk of clay. Like the skull, it was covered in soot, but upon brushing it off, she noticed there was blood mixed in with the ebony dust. However, there were markings in a deeper red then the blood on it, and, dispite the fact that it was tinted red, she knew exactly what it was.

_It was a fraction of A.J's mask._

---

**DUN DUN DUN**! Love them cliffies. X)

I hope you enjoyed the chapter… I'll try to write the next soon!


	6. Unmasked

Yay! A chapter featuring A.J maskless, weird horror, and a heaping truckload of oddness! What more could you want? –shot– Well, those of you who haven't been picking up my hints on A.J's identity, prepare to be surprised.

Oh, and this chapter took like… forever.. for two reasons- One, I was on a trip for a bit and couldn't write, two, I was writing the chapter before realizing it **sucked**, then proceeded to scrap the old idea and write it over again.

Well, enjoy!

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Chapter Five ↔ Unmasked

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Physical pain heals over time. As does confusion, heartbreak, and rage. But since the beginning of time, there has always been three things that no amount of time could ever heal once broken.

Grudges…

'_WHAT DID YOU DO?'_

'_I told you, it was an accident! I swear I'd never release them on purpose!'_

'_Like hell you didn't! Do you know what this means? My power will only hold them off for so long. Then, life as we know it will fall victim to its curse!'_

_He heard them fighting from his bed. What about was unknown to him, but the concept scared him. But he cuddled his stuffed bunny and closed his eyes, trying to forget it all._

_Though the unusual topic infected his dreams, he spoke not a word._

Death…

'_**No!...'**_

_He poked his head out from behind the stairway to see his father, a simple well-meaning farmer face down on the wooden floor of their home, face dunked in the only truly vivid color of the scene- red. A pool of sickening dark red.. The sight of which made his stomach do flip-flops out of fright and fear._

_Standing above his father was his mother… a pale, yet strikingly beautiful woman who could be described only as "Goddess-like". She was panting, and staring at the man on the floor like the plague. The deep red liquid was covering her dainty hands as well. As she turned to his direction, a look of pure anger in her eyes, he held his breath and tightly curled his body into a ball in the corner. _

_The shadows held some sort of indescribable comfort. They would protect him… Right?_

_Before leaving the room, she said one thing, which he presumed was ment for him and him alone._

"_**Tell no one what you saw here tonight."**_

And memories.

"_No, no, NO!... Like father like son, I suppose. You're just another worthless mortal. Why did I ever fall for the likes of HIM_?"

"_Because he was a better mortal, no, __**BEING**__ then you could ever be! You even killed him out of envy, I bet!"_

"_... I don't have to deal with this from my own child. I suppose I'll just have to punish you, hmm?..."_

_He stood his ground as his mother's hands began to glow with a lime green aura._

…_No, that was wrong. How on earth could she be his MOTHER? Mothers were supposed to protect their children, not try to kill them. Though in the presence of others, she acted like an ordinary mother- caring, loving, polite…though then she pretended the two had no relation to one another. The two-faced bitch. _

_Though there was nothing he could do now, as the light shot toward him.. and missed. Instead, it hit a nearby stack of old musical instruments his mother was trying to sell. They all, one by one, seemed to explode into multiple fragments of every color imaginable, though each one was no bigger then the palm of his hand._

_With a soft chiming noise, they scattered away out of the secluded pond like area the two were standing in, spreading across the land. She cursed her aim before disappearing in a flash of light, leaving nothing but golden dust in her place._

_He stared at it for a few moments and sighed. As much as he disliked her for every thing she did…_

_He couldn't bring himself to hate her._

The latter of the three flooded into his half-conscious mind. Though where they were coming from, he didn't know. You'd think he'd know his own past, but as far as he was concerned, he had lived in the desert his whole life. With the exception of that night…

He honestly wished he hadn't been seen.

But of course, what's done is done, and he figured that he might as well assist her in returning back to her quaint village in one piece. But how was he suppost to know she was the largest magnet for trouble on two legs?

"_Get away from me, woman! I'm busy!"_

"_Good grief, why do ya have to be so uptight? Nobody will like you with your personality."_

"…_I don't WANT any of those idiots to like me. Why are you still around, anyway? Don't you have work to do?"_

_There it was. The guilt trip. The young woman's upset expression melted into a crestfallen look. This didn't affect him- He was built for things worse then this. At least she wasn't coming after him with her scythe like he was expecting._

"_The others might have given up on you, but you can befriend them again… Please, at least try…Jamie."_

_As she walked away, he grumbled and continued working. Without realizing, he frowned._

Jamie? For the love of all things pointy, who in tarnation was that? Why was he dreaming about this weirdo? Were they friends? Enemies? Did they even know each other? Was this Jamie thinking about him?...

_Most important of all… Who am I?_

…Great. He was turning into Jill. Just what he needed. As he began to regain a bit of sense, he realized he was falling. The progress down was slow, but he was going down. Upon feeling a weightily pain crying at his chest, he realized he couldn't breath. He struggled weakly against the force before realizing he had began to rise a bit.

He forced his eyes open but quickly shut them, feeling a good amount of weight against them that the desert sand couldn't provide.. Unless it was wet. Then it hit him like a Frisbee to the head.

He was underwater. Most likely half drowned, judging by the pain in his chest and the fact that he was only half conscious. He tried to struggle some more, but in vain. He kept sinking like a stone. Too weak to do anything else, he surrendered his body to his fate..

---

Tired of walking, he sat down by the lakeside, glancing at his reflection in the water. A chocolate brown eyed depressed looking young man with hair of a similar color tied in a quick ponytail stared back at him. Placing his hand gently on the water, he watched tiny waves ripple down the glassy lake. He gave a depressed sigh. "…."

It was then that he saw them. Bubbles. A good quantity of them too- way too many to be a simple fish. Panicking that some small animal might have been drowning, he latched his legs around a thick root nearby and half dove into the water, reaching down until his hands latched onto something.

It wasn't particularly slimy, but it was heavy. He was beginning to loose his grip on the root as he made attempts to pull whatever it was up, and after a while slipped off and fell in himself.

After a few minutes, he brought his head back above water, sputtering and splashing in his wake. But whatever this giant thing was, he still had it. As quickly as he could manage, lugging the critter he had dragged out with him. Slumping down panting, he went to get a good look at his find, and stepped back out of shock, dropping the being's leg he had a grasp on in the process.

The being was a human male, no older them himself, with a recently created scar tearing down from his left eye towards the bottom of his cheek. Upon being lifted from the water, it began to drip blood again. He couldn't tell of this person's eye color, but as far as he could tell, his hair, which was a bit shorter then his own and clinging to the man's wet skin, was a medium violet color. Not very dark- it was probably rather pale when he was dry.

Finally, this person was adorned in a soaking wet cloak covered in a few minor rips, revealing a black t-shirt and worn black jeans under it, both layers battered with what he could only guess to be sand.. and some form of implosion.

The bad news was, this fellow wasn't breathing. So, naturally, being the good person he is, he feared for his life. "Um… I should get help... I don't know CPR…" He murmered, turning a pinkish color at the mention of CPR. He quickly shook it off and started to dash away to find whoever was closest… When he heard the cough.

Looking back, he noticed the waterlogged male in a small coughing fit, water and a small fish coming out of his mouth. Heading back over to the purple topped human's side, he watched the small fish flip around in a puddle of lake water mixed with saliva before finding its way back into the water. At this moment, the person opened his eyes, which were a pale shade of blue, and attempted to force himself to sit up, hyperventilating in attempt to retrieve previously lost air. His savior watched with a bit of confusion.

"Gah!.. Evil water..Hate water…Never drink.. water again.." He grumbled, still sputtering and coughing before casting a glance over at his savior and raised an eyebrow, giving him a puzzled look.

"Who are you?"

---

"Ah… So Cliff is your name?" The blue eyed one asked, the brunette called Cliff giving a slow nod. "Y-yes… Who are you?" He asked meekly, the other young man pushing a strand of wet purple hair behind his ear after it had faller in between his eyes. "I'm A.J." He replied simply, Cliff cocking his head to the side, giving him the appearance of a dog.

"…What does that stand for?... If you don't mind me asking." He added quickly.

A.J appeared pensive for a moment before speaking again. "You know.. I honestly don't know." He sighed. "Well, anyways, where am I?" He asked, changing the subject. Not wanting to insult his company, Cliff went along with it. "You're in Mineral Town…"

"Mineral Town?..." He blinked, confused. Wait, that sounded familiar. Wasn't this place where the Kappa and the Pond Goddess lived?... How he knew about them confused him, but he placed that in the back of his head for later. "How in tarnation did I end up here?" He asked, confused.

Cliff shrugged. "No idea. I found you drowning in the lake earlier… Maybe you fell from the sky or something? …Ann was saying somethin' about a UFO falling from the clouds when she was visiting the Goddess Pond… Where did you come from?"

"Hooligan's Desert."

"…..What?"

Reading the confused expression on his new friend's face, he decided that it wasn't best to speak of the place here.

"Never mind. It's somewhere far off from here.."

"…Um, Okay… If you say so…"

The two sat cross legged, staring at each other with moderate amounts of curiosity and confusion for quite a while. It was a few seconds later before Cliff scooted backwards away from the Pow-Wow, frightened.

"What is THAT?"

---

AJ turned behind him to see a figure made completely from shadows approaching them, the only thing not completely black about it being its blood red eyes, glowing with aggression, and its ivory colored fangs and claws, both looking sharp enough to cut through a diamond.

A purple snakelike tongue made a soft but threatening click as it slowly approached on its two forehands, hissing and flicking the rest of its body, which appeared to shrink into a ghost-like tail, before springing.

---

"RUN! RUN LIKE YOU MEAN IT!"

"…WHAT DO YA THINK I'M DOIN'?!"

The previous encounter with the shadowy creature resulted in an unusual scene involving AJ and Cliff running for whatever their lives were made of from the shadowy land shark, whom was attempting to make them into its first coarse. After a while it sunk into the ground and disappeared, leaving Cliff and AJ standing beside the hot springs, panting.

"Uff… I think… puff… We lost it…" AJ panted, wiping the sweat off of his forehead and looking around.

"I.. puff… think you're …huff.. right.." The brunette replied with a satisfied smile, looking around. All was calm…

Or was it?

In a few moments, the land shark returned, clicking its tongue softly… Only this time, it brought friends. Five, to be exact. AJ counted them as they ran for their lives once more.

"IN HERE!" He yelled out, grabbing Cliff by his jacket collar and jumping in the lake, pulling the pony tailed man in with him. There was a few bubbles… then there seemed to be a rainbow glow underwater.

Silence. The land sharks gave defeated eerie howls of displeasure and sunk back into the shadows. They'd find other prey in this land… Preferably in the form of short, plump, juicy mayors with receding hair lines. At least that way they wouldn't have to wash out their mouths with an innocent's blood to get all of the disgusting hair out.

---

"AJ!... Where are you? Are you still alive?"

_I hope so.._

Meanwhile, Jill wandered about the desert, unaware of where her traveling partner was. She had found her hammer a little while back, lodged into the skull of a very large snake. Which was found beaten senseless by the blow when she found it. So she simply took what was hers and left.

It was at that moment a rainbow light broke through the silver sky and dropped it's two passengers- a panicky hobo looking fellow and a tired, but equally panicky, maskless AJ. They both seemed rather wet- she could tell because AJ's messy purple hair was still clinging to his head.

Wait, purple hair? That sounded fermilliar. No… He couldn't be… A flabbergasted expression took her face as she realized the truth.

"…..Jamie?"

---

Wahahah. This chapter would have been longer, but I had to cut it short… WITH A CLIFFIE! (No pun intended.)

Oh, and if you're wondering about the hints…

1. AJ has pale blue eyes. So does Jamie. Connection? I think not. -shot-

2. Jill couldn't tell whether AJ was male or female by his voice. You'd think if he was normal, he'd have a deep voice..

3. I didn't exactly perform this trick well, but AJ and Jamie have similar personalities. Only thing is, AJ is Jamie.. With amnesia! -Dun dun dun-

Well, that's all, folks. Tune in next time!


	7. Dysfunctional

Allo. :3 I apologize for lateness on this chapter (it's a new record! xD) but of coarse, I suffered my usual writer's block... Though while I wrote this, I couldn't help but feel this chapter seems like a filler. Ha...

Special thanks go to Konafox (Write SM, damn you! xD), MyShadowsThorn, and Ekoaleko for reviewing. :3 I really appreciate its.. I read your reviews and ideas, have the all powerful warm and fuzzy feeling inside, and then keep writing…

Ahem. .. To much info there. Well, on with the show!

Disclaimer: Minor language and gore (xD There ya go, Ekoaleko.) are involved in this chapter. Viewer discretion is advised.

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Chapter Six ↔ Dysfunctional

---

_Dammit._

"Jamie? I thought your name was AJ..."

"Amen to the adorable hobo.."

"A-a-adorable?... M-me?... Wait. I'm notta hobo! I'mma Cliff..."

"Anyways. Why did you lie to me and this hobo?"

"It's Cliff!"

_Dammit._

"Well?"

"Uh.. Yeah! Give us some answers!... Uh, why DID you drag me along anyway? Where are we?... It's kinda bright. I shoulda brought my awesome hat!"

"Awesome hat?"

"Yeah! It looks like a blue baseball cap, only it has these things you can stick your drinks on the sides of it, and you can drink 'em through these straws... Uh, I forgot to ask. Who are you anyway?"

"Me? I'm Jill. Oh, and cool soundin' hat. It'd be good to wear during horse races... Anyways-"

**"SHUT IT AND LISTEN UP!"**

Upon hearing this yelled, the farm girl and the church hobo straightened up like army men about to be examined by one of higher rank, and instantly becoming silent. As did AJ.. er, Jamie.. who stood shifting his icy gaze between them both for a moment and closing his eyes.

"..."

After a few minutes, Jill's muscles allowed themselves to relax, as she looked between the two. Cliff still maintained, quite well I should say, the density of a Totem Poll, while the one who snapped at them a few seconds ago was standing in a trance-like state, eyes closed. Jill waved a hand in front of his face.

"...Um... AJ?"

No answer.

Jill groaned. Time for plan B... Shifting her view down to the hammer gleaming silver in the reddish eyes of the sun, she picked it up and held it over her head, with intentions of giving Jamie one harsh wake up call... Either that, or crack his skull open for being a total Angsty Jackass for the last chapter or two. Your pick. Cliff twitched at the sight of the giant ore chunk on a stick, speaking up once again. Yet, he still managed to stay unmoving through _almost_ everything that happened in the past eight minutes. Impressive.

"...Uh-uh-uh, J-J-Jill, I d-don't think y-you should d-do that..." He stammered, Jill glancing over at him.

"Well, why not? If his head's as hard as his ego, he should be fine..." She stated rather matter-o-factly, Cliff giving her a baffled look at her questionable logic.

"...I don't think... it works like that..."

**"HAH!"**

Both parties turned to the purple haired male, who had now opened his eyes with a rather triumphant expression on his face. Upon noticing this, three things happened. Jill dropped her hammer out of surprise and killed a rat (Well, Cliff thought it was a rat), Cliff's muscles decided they had enough of this standing nonsense, and they let him fall** to his DEATH**...

Okay, I lied. He just fell backwards and landed in the soft sand behind him. After this, they both earned quizzical looks from Jamie.

"What was all this about now?"

"We're the ones who should be asking that question... Why'd ya space out?"

Jamie's expression suddenly became distant, and he silently looked away. After a short pause, he spoke again.

"I was having... a spiritual journey."

"Can I use that phrase next time I'm dozing off? I'll give you credit!"

"Wait... Weren't we talking about why A-Jamie lied to us before?"

"Oh, right! So, um, Jamie.. Why? We won't be mad.."

Jamie groaned and put his fingers to his forehead, rubbing his temples. Ugh, this was going to be tough to explain... Maybe if he left out the details they wouldn't notice.

"Well, where to begin? I suppose-"

_Crunch._

_---_

Jamie was cut off by a rather inhumane crunching noise a small distance away. Turning towards where he thought the sound came from, he took notice of a small group of people... As well as the all-too familiar scent of fresh blood. If it was logically possible, he'd probably be curling his nose with distaste right now.

"...What in the Goddess's name are they doing?"

Unfortunately one of the people heard him and stood up, turning to them and walking over in a possessed manner.

---

By description, it was a youthful looking female with hair the color of cotton candy. Normally, she would have seemed cute to a normal male's standards... That is, if she didn't have that disturbingly psychotic expression on her face.

Not to mention the red liquid which seemed to be EVERYWHERE- covering the area around her mouth, mostly dyeing her bottom lip a deep crimson before running down her chin and dripping onto the ground. Her once pale hands were dipped in the same darkening red, which ran down her slender fingers to mix with the sand below, creating a hideous color which you'd never see in a crayon box.

Cliff by this time was huddled close behind Jill, his usually soft brown eyes showing greats amount of fear. In turn to the events, Jamie's usual natural expression turned into the perma-glare Jill usually identified him with. He ended up positioned in front of his two companions, ready for whatever this psycho woman planed to do. She simply smirked, shifting her ruby red eyes to look at the two behind him.

"...Hello, Cliff."

"P-P-Popuri..."

---

Her smirk slowly smoothed itself out to become a smile. A crooked, twisted smile, but a smile all the same. She then examined the people in front of her, shooting a small, yet dagger-like glare at Jill.

"Now, what are you two doing hanging out with this wallflower here? Join the party like the rest of us.. You'll have fun." She mused in a silky voice, looking directly into the two male's eyes. There was something abnormal about them... Something almost hypnotic... Jamie couldn't exactly pick out WHAT made them hypnotic, but either way, he felt his sense of self fading. Just like that day...

But that was a story for another time. Jill watched helplessly as Popuri pierced their souls, into their very hearts... Finally, she got fed up with the silence, and deemed it necessary to snap at this girl.

"What in the name of the goddess are you pulling, you…you…"

She blinked, giving the stammering female searching for the right word a soft glare. One of which perfectly complimented the devilish look plastered on her face. In all, she reminded Jill of a hungry viper eying its prey.

"Hmmm? You REALLY want to know, dearie? Well... I suppose you can be dessert. We just finished our meal, you see." She said, glancing back at a group of people stepping away from a carcass to watch Popuri deal with their "guests".

On further examination of the carcass, she realized some distinguishing features. One, being that the leftovers were bones that probably once were human. She could tell by the shape of the skull lying nearby.

Another thing being a small pile of slightly long brown hairs lying by the bones, covered with saliva and blood.. They were probably spit up by the diners.

On the ground near that lay the bloodied fabric that appeared to at one point be colored in a camouflage type design... Then it hit her.

Oh my goddess... They ate Kurt.

---

"Hey! Girl, what you spacin' for? Shouldn't you be running like the little wuss you are?"

"...Huh?"

Glancing at her two "friends", she couldn't help but feel that something was up. For one thing, they were glaring at her, and secondly… Oh, she must have imagined it… But their eyes seemed to have a deep reddish hue.

"Um.. Guys? What are you doing?..."

Either way, neither of the two answered. Jamie suddenly armed himself with his snaplosion rocks, and Cliff seemed to be franticly searching for something. Popuri let out what Jill took to be a cackle.

"Ehehe! How do ya like THEM apples, bit-"

Before she could finish her sentence, she was somehow turned into a potential weapon, flailing as she was swung around like a sword by Cliff. Popuri screamed. "UNHAND ME, YOU IDIOT!" Jill simply watched the scene, occasionally switching her field of vision between them and Popuri's posse, who simply watched in the background.

_Run._

Before she could react, she felt a sudden shock of undeniable pain which made her flinch and loose her balance, forcing her to topple over. A rush of pure confusion and fear for her life ran cold down her spine as her scrambled mind tried to identify the source of the pain. Wherever it was, she felt a fresh jolt of it in any random area of her being, along with hearing a hollow scream or the occasional "Ow! Let me go, you jerk!"

The chill slowly warmed up, making her feel as if she was lying in lukewarm water now. Oh, it still hurt to move, but at least upon being battered over to the side, she had noted where the main source of the pain was coming from.

Her vision was a bit blurred from the salty tears that had somehow found their way out of her eyes, but she could clearly see that there were four arrowhead-like rocks projecting out of her legs in random places. From those holes, her blood had slowly crept its way out around the rocks, the massive loss of the liquid making her feel too weak to defend herself, or even speak.

She was powerless.

As she lay down her head, unable to keep it lifted through all this, she shut her eyes as tight as she dared and prepared herself for her fate.

---

Cliff FINALLY put Popuri down after Jill had closed her eyes, figuring her dead. After the female, rather battered from the experience, had slapped the boy silly, she walked over to Jill and gave her a harsh kick in the back, smiling contentedly as more blood gushed out.

She didn't seem to be breathing, so she turned to Jamie and Cliff. "Okay, you two, fight. The winner will stay with us. Looser will be the main course for tomorrow's breakfast." She stated, Jamie's eyes glinting with delight at the thought.

The two then proceeded renew the fight from earlier, while Popuri walked off towards the group, who clapped with pleasure over the female's miracle workings. Popuri acknowledged this for a bit before raising a hand when she grew tired of them.

"Well, come then. We'll stop back in the morning… Besides, if I don't get my beauty rest, I get cranky. I KNOW you don't want to see me cranky, right?" She replied with a dangerous tone in her voice. The others simply gave vigorous nods and marched away, intimidated expressions on their faces.

---

After the cannibal group took their leave for the night, a sudden wall of sand slapped both Jamie and Cliff in the head, getting in their eyes and noses. Jamie, being used to this business, recovered quickly from the blow. Realizing that a sandstorm was brewing, he put the hood of his cloak up to protect himself.

Cliff, who wasn't quite as lucky, was turned away from the winds of the storm and busied himself with trying to rub the grainy sand out of his eyes, only to realize it just made them sting. He gave a small, almost canine like whine, unhappy with this change of weather.

Of coarse, being the purple haired fiend he is, Jamie took the opportunity to take Cliff off guard and delivered a kick to his skull, knocking him over onto Jill's supposedly dead corps. He growled and made an attempt to get up, despite the throbbing in his head, yet it was in vain. His reddish eyes slowly fading back to brown, he toppled over again into unconsciousness.

Jamie, pleased with his work, contemplated if he should try to drag them back to "Lady Popuri", or if he should just eat them and run…. Wait, something at the back of his mind questioned his sanity as to why he was even CONCIDERING eating another human being. He ignored it, but it kept asking.

Before he could think of a witty retort for this foolish voice, he felt a hard crack on the back of his legs, which knocked him forwards into the sand. Baffled, he weakly tried to get back up, only to be was shoved back down by a hard pain to his back. Daring to twist his head to try and view what dared to strike him, he saw one thing. A rock. A very large one at that. As he reached out to grab it in attempt to throw it back at the source, another one crashed into his skull. As sense mixed with pain, one thing was really evident to his ever-scrambling mind.

His lights were out.

---

Weee! Cliffy! I seem to have an unusual liking for knocking people out, don't I? Anyways, hope you enjoyed the chapter. I'll try to write a fresh one sooner this time. xD


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